A Tale in Winter
by GirlWithNoLife
Summary: Before he was Jack Frost, he was a young boy trying to keep himself and his baby sister, Katherine, alive. But in in the end his love took his life and gave him a new one.


_**A Tale in Winter**_

_Summary: Before he was Jack Frost, he was a young boy trying to keep himself and his baby sister, Katherine, alive. But in in the end his love took his life and gave him a new one._

_Notes: This is mostly based on the books and trailers, because I haven't seen the movie yet._

_Tell me what you think and would me to build on this or not._

*(0)*

Jack pulled his cloak tightly around himself. The wind was merciless and cruel as blew in his face, making every part of him stinging from the cold. Still, he continued on. He had to. In his cloak he heard a slight cry over the roars of winter's harsh breath. Slowly, he peaked into cloak where in his arms, a girl, barely even two years old was nestled tightly against his chest for warmth. Despite the protection Jack was trying to give her, the cold was starting to get her as well. In spite of the muscles in his face punishing him for it, Jack forced a smile.

"Shh! Shush, Katherine. We'll be alright." If only he could believe that. But the truth was that the snow had already claimed the lives of his parents and if this kept up, it wouldn't be long before it claimed them as well. Jack wrapped her back up and pushed on, his mind focused on his single destination;

Santoff Claussen.

That was where his parents were leading them. Why, he didn't know. To be honest, he would have been happy if they stayed in their in his village, in their home where a fire place would be burning now. But dark circumstances had forced them from their home in the middle of December and now were paying for it with their lives.

If he could just find that village his parents told him to find. If he could just make it to that place, they would be safe. If only…

His thoughts were interrupted when an icy blast of wind punched him square in the face, almost making him fall back. Before he did anything else, he knew he had to find shelter, but with the storm as thick as it was it was impossible to see anything. Jack was starting to become worried. Not just because there was no sign of the storm letting up, but because Katherine's crying was starting to quiet. Any other time, this would be a relief, but during this storm at least Jack knew his sister was alive when she cried. If she was quieting…

Luck smiled on the boy and his baby sister as he suddenly found the start of a small gathering of trees in a clearing. Jack made sure to check for accumulated debris and broken tree stumps at the base. His father had taught him how to survive in the wild and had told him that one of the best things to do in a storm is to find an avalanche chute, which can usually be marked by those two things. Jack went to the side of the clearing to a small hill.

Holding his sister in one hand, Jack began to dig to make a small snow cave; big enough for him and his sister to climb in. It took a bit, but at least the hill protected them from the wind mostly. Once that was done he crawled in and blocked the entrance with his back pack to keep what little heat there was in.

With that done, he laid back against the snow wall and opened his cloak to get a full look at Katherine. Like him, her nose and cheeks were cherry red from the cold. Because she was wrapped in at least twelve blankets her movement was stunted, but at least she was alive which Jack was more than grateful for. He had already lost his parents; he couldn't lose his baby sister too. Jack felt his eyes burn slightly. He managed to keep himself busy with fighting the weather, but now that he wasn't moving the whole weight of the situation was pushing in on him. He hit his head against the wall behind him. They were gone. He was alone.

A hungry cry reminded Jack otherwise. He wasn't alone. Not yet anyway. Jack leaned forward and cooed at Katherine to try and calm her.

"Shh! It's okay," he told her. "We'll be okay."

Or at least he hoped they would.

*8*

Jack slowly awoke when he felt something crawl up his leg. He jumped slightly when he saw a small rodent. He winced when his head hit the ceiling of his shelter. Groaning he rubbed his head as he cursed his luck. Of all the ways to wake up!

Wait. _Wake up_?

Jack's eyes widen as he began to turn in a panic, throwing up the twelve blankets that had previously been wrapped around his baby sister who was suddenly missing.

"Katherine?!" He looked towards the exit and noticed that his bag, which had previously been pushed up against the entrance, was knocked to the side. Jack took a sharp breath. Katherine must have woken up when he was asleep and had wandered off! Heart racing a thousand miles an hour, Jack scrambled out of the makeshift shelter and ran outside to search for his little sister.

"Katherine!" His head whipped side to side as he ran around. The good news was that it was morning and the storm had stopped, so perhaps the search would be easier. The bad news was that he didn't know _when_ Katherine had left! She could have been frozen or worse!

Jack shook his head. He had to find her. He had to! Looking around he saw some tracks. Upon closer look, he noted that they were fresh, which boded well for him. It meant that she didn't get too far. Following them, he was led to a thick forest which both relieved and frighten him. Relived, because now he would be able to make a fire and even hunt later. Frighten, because there be some dangerous predators in there who could have gotten Katherine!

"KATHERINE!" Jack barreled his way through the forest, fear beating against every fiber of his body. The woods and snow tried to stop him as if it were trying to stop him from entering further. At one point his boots became stuck in a tree trunk. Not having the patience to deal with this, Jack slid his foot from his boot and continued running before losing his remaining boot to a snow drift.

He couldn't lose Katherine. She was all he had now. He couldn't lose her!

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jack found her. He had just burst from the woods and fell to his knees, from a heavy mix of hunger, thirst, a bit of frostbite, exhaustion, but most of all, relief.

"Katherine…"

Katherine, who had wandered onto the ice covered lake, smiled at him innocently and she let out a giggle, completely naïve to the trouble she had caused for her brother. She was toddling towards him when the ice below her cracked and she fell in before she could even stop smiling.

"No! Katherine!" Not wasting a moment, Jack rushed forward and fell into the lake as well. For a moment the whole world seemed to stop. His first instincts were to swim to the surface, then he noticed Katherine sinking towards the bottom. His big brother instincts trampling his survival, he swam down and grabbed her before swimming to the surface.

He didn't know how, but he managed to pull both of them from the lake and to shore. But Jack wasn't about to rest just yet. He turned to Katherine, who was very still.

"No…" As Jack's heart broke, it was then a miracle decided to step in. From the snow, fell a few drops of light that somehow seemed to restore the color to her face. Her eyes clenched as she wiggled slightly.

Words could describe what Jack felt when had started to cry, her little lungs full of life.

She was okay.

"Shh…" he cooed. "You're okay. You're o…kay…" Suddenly Jack felt all of his energy flow away from him. He felt so cold. And so tired. He dropped his head to the snow and couldn't find the strength to lift it. In fact he couldn't move anything. But he need to. He needed to take care of Katherine. The sound of Katherine's crying was becoming more and more distance as his eyes started to close until he felt, saw, and heard nothing.

He died.

*8*

The forest witness this and felt grief for the boy. He was just a child. A brave child who gave up his life for his younger sibling. The toddler, whom the gods seemed to have spared, continued to cry and reached out to her brother. She wanted to be held. She wanted him to whisper to her, like he always did. But no matter what she did, the boy could not move and she didn't understand. This broke the forest's heart.

Eventually, it began to feel pity for these children. It was too late for the boy, but at least they could save the girl. They had to. So, as the boy slid back into the water, a tree used its roots to lift the girl who still reached in vain for her brother. Katherine cried as she reached for her brother.

"J…ack! Jack!" He slid back into the lake and that was the last time she saw him.

*8*

The trees passed the girl, one to other, using their roots, vines, and branches. They knew that they had to get her to the village fast, or else the poor thing would freeze to death like the rest of her family. After a while, even the animals decided to help. The chipmunks and the squirrels decided to lead her through the tougher parts of the snow when the trees were no longer close enough to hand her off. Many times, Katherine tried to toddle back in the direction of where her brother had laid, but always led away and being the toddler she was, let them do so. After all, she didn't understand what had just happened to her brother. She was too young and naïve to understand that he was gone now. Instead, she thought he was napping, like before, and was now playing with her new friends.

It was sunset by the time the reindeer took over and Katherine had fallen asleep. The reindeer had to be careful as they were afraid the baby would tumble off their back if they moved too fast. They had taken her to the center of the forest, when they heard a low rumble. The deer froze as, from the dark thick growth, a giant, black bear had appeared and now loomed over them. Because they were residents of the forest, he didn't threaten them like he would an intruder, however he was on edge when whiffed an trespasser in his woods. When he saw the child, he frowned and his eyes demanded an explanation.

The great snow owls were the first to start since a day before, they had witness the brave sacrifice of the babies' parents and how they had used their own body warmth to save both her and her brother. Then a snow rabbit began to tell of the valiant brother who had pushed onward despite the storm and grief to keep his sister alive. Finally the trees told him of his brave efforts to save her when she fell into the lake, and how in the end his love had cost him his life. When they were finished, the bear was in deep thought.

The animals and woods were nervous. While they knew that their bear was not cruel or evil, they knew the bear took his duty to protect the village of Santoff Claussen very seriously and they did not know what he would do. Finally, the bear took the child from the reindeer and set her on its back. After everything the girl had lost, the bear decided that she deserved to make it to the village, if only to honor the brave actions of her family.

Katherine was a bit startled to see that she was riding a bear, but was not frighten for she didn't feel anything bad from it. Yet she was not as excited as she would usually be; instead she felt sad. She missed her mother, father, and brother. She wanted them to be there with her and yet for some reason they were not and she did not understand why.

Because of its size and knowledge of its forest, it was not long before the bear had made its way to the village. It was night now, so everyone was getting ready for bed, which the bear was glad for. He loved everyone in this town, but he wanted to talk with his master before anyone saw the newcomer. He came to a stop when he came to a tall tree known as the Elder tree. The bear waited until the tree opened and an old man with a long white beard stepped out.

The old man looked from the bear, to the toddler on its back, then to the bear again, a solemn questioning in his eye that the bear knew he would have to answer.

*8*

At the bottom of the lake, a second miracle was happening. A strange, mysterious light had pierced through the darkness of the water and was currently floating to the bottom where the boy lied in his eternal rest. The light floated down until it settled in his chest. Once it had done so, the boy became filled with winter's light and his hair, once a deep brown, became a sparkling white. He floated to the surface and a mysterious force pulled him to shore. From there, the moon light took over.

The moon shone brightly on Jack and after a few seconds the boy's eyes shot open in a wild panic. He whipped his body around, confusion over taking him. Who was he? Where was he? How did he get here? Suddenly his bright, ice blue eyes fell on the moon and he found himself calming. Somehow the moon comforted him, for it was soft and gentle. The boy was still confused though. Where was he and why?

He could only remember one thing; his name was Jack. Everything else was gone. As he tried to think, something caught his eye. He turned and connected to a tree he saw a branch that hand blue pulses of light. Feeling curious and drawn by it, he walked towards it. When he was close enough he grabbed the branch and it snapped off in his hands. He stumbled back slightly and stared in awe at the branch in his grasp. He didn't have any memories, but he was sure he hadn't ever seen anything like this before.

As he looked the staff over its tip hit the ground and made a trail of snow. At first Jack had flinched in shock. Then he decided to test it by dragging it across the ice. It created a trail of ice and a smile crossed the boy's face. This was kind of fun! He began to run across the ice, trailing the staff behind him which created a path of frost. In his joy, he leaped into the air and found that he could fly! Excitement and a whimsy fun filled him and Jack let out a cheer of fun as he flew high above the forest, his past confusion about everything becoming lost in the winter night.

*8*

It wasn't until much, much later that Jack had a feeling that he had forgotten something extremely important. But for the life of him he could not remember what. This sadden him greatly. He landed on tree and in the distance noticed lights. Upon closer observation, it seemed to be coming from a village. Curious, he flew towards it, his eyes open as if he was looking for something, but he didn't know what.

When he made it to the village, he spotted a giant bear with an old man. With them was a baby who sat between them. Jack's eyes filled up with emotion, yet relief. But why? His grip tightened on his new "staff" when the bear edged slightly closer to the child. He didn't know why, but he felt a fierce protectfulness towards the toddler. He figured it was just natural to want to protect a child and if that bear threatened her, Jack would give it more than frostbite. From the looks of it the animal was talking to an old man, of at least Jack thought they were talking. To him it just sounded like a bunch of growling. It was a while, but when they were finished the old man's face became sympathetic. Jack clenched slightly when the old man picked up the girl, but calmed when he saw he was comforting her. The white haired lad was satisfied that the man wouldn't hurt her, yet as he carried the child into the large tree, Jack couldn't help but feel sad and lonely. Yet he didn't do anything for in his mind a voice spoke,

"_She'll be happy here. She'll be safe."_ Jack didn't know who the voice belonged to, but he knew it was right. What Jack didn't know was why he cared.

Jack must have stood and stared at the tree for hours before he finally managed to gain the will power to turn away. He didn't know why he cared. After all, if wasn't as if he knew the toddler anyway.

With that he flew into the winter night, starting his life as Jack Overland Frost.

*)0(*

_Well, what do you think? I finished reading the books and wanted to write something about it. This is based on a theory I had; That Jack and Katherine are related._

_This is REALLY going on a limb, but I think they might be brother and sister since it is said that Jack drowned trying to save his sister, and Katherine's parents died in a snow storm. Maybe after the parents died in the cold Jack took Katherine to try and shelter, but somehow ended up falling in a lake and lost his memory._

_I know that there's the whole issue with him being over 700 years old, but I think the movie takes a hundreds of years after the books, so it's possible. Besides, the author has a son named JACKson and had daughter named Katherine. (R.I.P) So maybe he'll slip it in?_

_And even if they're not related, I think they may have a connection since it is hinted that they both lost their family in winter time. Like I said, I'm out on a thin limb, but how awesome would that be if Jack Frost and Mother Goose were related?_

_Anyway, let me know if this is something you would be interested in seeing being developed further, or not._

_As always, I accept critiques and opinions, but don't be a troll please._


End file.
